Dan Gould

I still cannot wrap my mind around the concept of Missou playing West VA for all the marbles. I fully expect that at least one of them will blow it in the Conference Championship games. I'm sure whoever has got broadcast rights to the Sugar Bowl is hoping for the same, since neither of those teams will bring in a lot of fans. I'm sure they're hoping Ohio State gets a bid. If a crazy season like this can't force the NCAA to give in on instituting a tournament, what will?

Well, Denver-Chicago turned out to be a barn-burner, with some awesome plays on both sides of the ball. One of the best games I've watched this season.

That goes double for me.

A fascinating look at the legal issues surrounding Bonds' indictment, courtesy of the Hardball Times. Pretty damning, too, and what surprises me is that this lawyer is identified as a criminal defense attorney. Judging from Court TV, criminal defense attorneys are constitutionally incapable of saying positive things about a prosecutor and his case. http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/...ough-the-noise/

The kind who allows greed or lust to triumph over reason and good judgement. I know that dipshit is calling me a moron, but I trust that you are not implying that I allow greed or lust to triumph over reason and good judgment, Chris.

Actually, the page they set up doesn't throw off any phishing signals, but you do have to click to get the "tax refund request" and that threw Norton into a tizzy. Good Norton, good boy!

Now they're trying to pretend they are the IRS? Brings new meaning to the phrase "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help you." They are even stealing bandwidth by linking that image direct from the irs.gov site! And of course the right clicky on the link shows that it is http://www.gigata.com/auction/cgi-bin/.hap...ceva.alyfel.php What is sad is that while the vast majority of US citizens would laugh at the thought that the IRS would approach them about a tax refund, there are still people who will happily give up their info in expectation of a refund. Does the IRS have a "spoof" address? Edit: and here is something interesting - when I get BS like this, I like to switch browsers to IE, because the "fraud monitoring" of my Norton only works with that browser. Every time I've done that and clicked on the link, Norton recognizes the site as a "known phishing page" and disables it. But it didn't do anything this time, even though the site URL starts with a bunch of numbers and then duplicates the URL of other IRS links. I guess this is really is a new phishing site. Beware!

Now that I've had my fun, let me just say that I think Jim overestimates the talent of a .285 hitter. .285 hitters are in almost all cases, nothing more than solid major leaguers. Chances are that if they hit with power (and are therefore more "valuable") they don't hit for as high an average. A .285 hitter is interchangeable with about 60% of the league, won't ever get a sniff of the Hall of Fame, and is generally forgotten by everybody as soon as he retires. Stanley Turrentine was most assuredly not a ".285 hitter". IMHOP, he was a perennial All-Star, save for the career dip he took in the Fantasy years.

Considering how intelligent baseball analysis ("sabermetrics") is moving away from BA because it is one of the most variable of all hitting statistics, I am really wondering what Stanley's OBP (on-base percentage) and SLG (slugging percentage) was, so I can determine his all-important OPS (On-base plus slugging). Better yet, how did he do away from his "home field" of RVG's studio? If you want a true picture of the man in full context, you have to control for the effects of recording at Rudy's, (I'm going to call that statistic "RVG+") and if you really want to get the very fullest measure of the player, you've got to control for the fact that he played and recorded in an era in which brilliant recordings were a workaday habit for many (to keep up the belabored baseball metaphor, I'll call that one "ERA+"). It is my considered opinion that Mr. T's ERA+ was a very solid .870. Borderline Hall of Fame credentials but unfortunately some voters place too much emphasis on the decade of the Seventies, where his ERA+ admittedly slipped to .790.

So now the Angels sweep in and grab Torii Hunter for five years and 90 million? After overspending for Gary Matthews Jr last year? Color me confused, but I guess it will work out overall if all four outfield bats are in the lineup at a time, rotating the DH among them. Unfortunately, Hunter will never be a true impact bat - though I'd expect he'll hit better than Matthews.

Killer track, guys! Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving to y'all.

Seems the bully can't be bullied Telling someone they're an idiot hasn't the slightest thing to do with being a "bully". Telling someone that they have to change their avatar because you are offended, then refuting anyone who points out how you can avoid seeing the avatar, IS the act of a bully. See? Forcing someone to do something against their will - that's what a bully does. Telling you you're a fucking moron because ninety nine times out of a hundred you post nonsensical crap - that's the act of a friendly neighborly sort who doesn't tolerate stupidity. I don't care whether you ever start posting intelligent commentary about Bonds/steroids/baseball in general. Just as you shouldn't care what aloc has as his avatar.

Please. Censorship is no answer. Insulting my intelligence isn't either. I have posed a question of BBS etiquette. Is that a problem? You just like to piss off everybody, don't you? And impose your view of what is "true" and "right" on everybody else, huh? You don't like someone's avatar, change your settings. You have no right to tell ANYONE what to display. If there were something remotely offensive, it is up to JIM to make that decision. Now, I am going to send a PM to aloc to get him to send me the old avatar. If he will do that, it will become my permanent avatar, for many reasons: 1) it pisses you off. That means its gold to me. 2) the idea that it is Keith Jarrett at the piano beating himself to a bloody pulp is wonderful, since I wish he'd do it in real life. 3) I've been doubling up on the Coltrane pic, time to replace it. Look for it and bitch and moan, you self-important, censoring POS. I will never be bullied into changing it like aloc was.

I can read it lots of ways, but it would be nice of you to clarify your meaning, Renier. Otherwise the people here who have been hoping for some sort of Sounds release will be left in the same place they have been, a state of confusion. Makes no nevermind to me because I have the BN releases in one form or another.

I would hope so. As of now, you're on my coal in the stocking list, buster, and I don't care if you celebrate Christmas or not, that's what you're going to get!

Can the Tribe catch lightning in a bottle (or is that Japan)? Indians Sign Japanese Closer Kobayashi Given his reputation in Japan, I don't doubt that this guy should be a very solid reliever, and I'd hope that at some point they will wise up and replace Borowski with Betancourt or this guy. A very good move for the Tribe.

I take it this means that the "work" is done and Michael is waiting for the right time to put out a Sounds set? Otherwise you seem to be contradicting yourself.

Want to try that one more time?

Interesting. That hasn't been reported in Boston, but it means that he did get the offer he was looking for, and from a club with a home stadium that would have fit his swing almost as well as Fenway does. I guess he really did want to stay in Boston when push came to shove.

A tough call but I think he deserved it. When you get right down to it the Phils have some tremendous young players and if their pitching comes through I think they have as good a chance as any team to hoist a trophy in the next five years.

Hey, anyone who wants to question if there is a difference between the Yankees and the Red Sox just have to look at how each team handled its free agents. The Yankees threw money and years at Rivera and Posada until they said "OK" and committed to paying A-Rod a ridiculous salary that will never be eclipsed by anyone else, until he's all of 42 years old. On the other hand, the Red Sox set reasonable values on their two free agents, stuck to them, and ultimately signed them both. Which team is in better shape for 2008, and equally important, beyond? I think the answer is clear. The Sox have youth - both established and on the cusp - plus veteran talent and they aren't on the hook for any of the vets beyond their sell-by date (well, Ortiz may age rapidly due to his body type, and Drew is signed til he's 36 or 37 - but still, compared to a Yankee roster that will soon enough feature a 41 year old closer, 40 year old catcher, and 37-38 year old SS, LF and fourth outfielder, I think Theo has GM'd rings around Cashman and the Steins.

Ends up the youngster named to eventually replace Cabrera is a kid named Wood. But they also have Izturis, and the kid I mentioned, and even a couple of other bodies so they wouldn't have to start super-sub Figgins there. So they can throw a lot of wet noodles at the wall & see what sticks! Cabrera has really upped his OBP & hitting the past 2 years. Good thing y'all won another WS, otherwise you'd hear more of the "why did you get rid of him" talk. This is true, and I stand by my prediction that they will go all in on winning the Cabrera sweepstakes, otherwise it seems as though their best hope is to equal the offense from last year (and that will be a challenge), and that was only sufficient to win a decidedly mediocre division.

:party:

Not sure why you say they have to get a poor fielding great slugging 3rd baseman to replace a SS who hits for average but not power. They've got a kid named Sean Rodriguez who has a bit of pop who they've probably figured is a cheaper alternative at SS. And if he doesn't work out, there's always Figgins. This isn't to say they won't try to make a play for Miguel, it's just the Angels use the farm to feed positions when they can & that may be what they're doing. I think it's also a sign that they have questions about 4 & 5 starters Ervin Santana and Joe Saunders, and rightfully so. Santana took a big step back, with a road ERA over 8 and he missed some starts as well. Perhaps the loss of Bud Black as pitching coach is to partially to blame. Garland has never excited me, but for the past 6 years he's made at least 32 starts, and has 4 years in a row of over 200 innings. Probably better to spend 10 million on that kind of pitching than 8.5 million on Orlando Cabrera. Well my point was that they gave away one of the few bright spots in a profoundly mediocre offense, and while I did not know if they had someone to replace him in the system, I'd be surprised if this kid plays as well. O-Cab scored 100 runs and drove in over 85. Pretty good numbers for a rookie to replace. And isn't Figgins best suited to the "super-sub" role? I thought that he isn't exactly great when he plays every day at one spot. I do think you make a good point about the 4-5 pitchers. Garland is a better alternative, certainly. Let Saunders and Santana fight it out for the number 5 spot.

Make the margin five scores instead of four?